A father of four was caught out when a customer's feedback complaining goods were fake was spotted by a trading standards officer monitoring eBay.

Paul Thompson bought goods on the internet then auctioned them on via the website. He 'hyped' them up claiming they were genuine and put in bids for his own goods, Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard. He also sent off false feedback on eBay.

Prosecutor Alexander Greenwood said that trading standards officer Paul Lewis was monitoring the auction sites of people trading in the Merthyr area. He was drawn to the user name Fam 9990 selling designer goods at low prices.

A feedback comment to eBay from a buyer read 'top is fake, not like as described, very unhappy'.

Thompson, 38, who admitted nine offences under the Trademarks Act and one offence of giving a false description, was sentenced to 200 hours' unpaid work in the community and was ordered to pay £1,400 costs.